The Great Mon Wizar
by Terrichance
Summary: Wizardmon, during his search for the 8th child, finds a nice distraction... in the form of a circus.


Edited for format on March 19 07

**THE GREAT MON WIZAR**

It all began innocently enough... well, as innocently as a viral digimon can be.

My name is Wizardmon, and the tale I'm about to tell you is one of wonder, magic, and plain blind luck. A tale of my adventures in the Human world, before my life came to an end.

Myotismon had sent me, Gatomon, and various other servants out into the city of Odaiba, in search of the Eighth Digidestined Child. I had my suspicions that Gatomon would find him or her first, but it was no reason to keep me from trying.

Each of us were equipped with a crest tag, matching the lifeforce of the child. They were but copies of the genuine article, but they worked about the same as the real one, in that they glowed should they be near the chosen child.

My goal was to find him/her first, for if any of the other cronies were to before me, they would take the child back to Myotismon and have him destroyed. Even though I was under the vampire's employ, I held no great affection for him. If I could find the eighth child first, and reunite him/her with the other digidestined, it would usher in the dark lord's demise.

But first, I had to find the kid. This is where my tale begins...

-------

Moments after I had been given the fake crest, I was on my way over the city streets, gliding from rooftop to rooftop, trying to keep my presence concealed.

This was not going to work. I had to get down there among the crowds in order to get a good reading. But not very many people were going to take a small man in a tattered wizard's costume to be commonplace, as in my world. I had to blend in.

But how? I thought to myself, still flying across the buildings. If I were to disrobe, it'd be even more obvious, as my mouth is, but a seam sewn shut.

I shook my head. It was not going to work, so I had to think of some other way. Maybe I could skim over the neighborhoods... not easy, but I could do it without being seen. The only other way I could think of, was...

There was a hubbub to my left, a few kilometers from my position. There was the sound of children laughing, screaming, and people in various levels of mirth and joy. Intruiged, I moved closer to the source.

Upon arrival, my eyes widened. There was an area, berift of buildings, where colorful tents were set up. Out on the grounds, vendors hawked their trinkets and treats to those milling about. A fenced area held a large number of animals, all allowing themselves to be handled by the humans. Streamers and flags flapped in the wind, and every now and then, a balloon would break free of the crowd, and rise skyward to freedom. A single banner soared above for all to see, reading 'Godfried and Sons: For the Grandest Time on Earth!'

I smiled beneath my cape. Of course. A circus would be the PERFECT place to find children. Especially if one of them was the eighth child.

I descended into the carnival of colors.

-------

Here, I could walk about freely. We have circuses back in the Digiworld, but they weren't like these. Our circuses consisted of showing digital oddities, Mega Digimon performing tricks for the in-trainings, and maybe even a trinket from the Human world as a sideshow.

Here though, the acts revolved around humans doing tricks and stunts that no ordinary person would be capable of, tamed wild animals that would sit up and beg, and of course, people dressed up in the most ridiculous costumes, happily making fools of themselves, just so the audience would laugh.

I was considered to be one of these, a clown, though my outfit was deemed a bit ragged for the job. Nevertheless, people would wave at me, point and giggle. A few cringed though, some deep fear plauging them. I don't blame them. Once, when I was a rookie, a Greymon wearing clown makeup stuck his nose in my face and giggled madly. I've had a phobia of white-faced Greymons ever since.

Still, I was greeted with smiles wherever I wandered. A couple of children even came up to me and asked if I had balloons. I blinked for a second, before taking off my hat, reaching in, and pulling out a couple of red ones. They both thanked me heartily, and rushed off to find their parents. The experience left me feeling quite pleased.

My mission still came first though. I walked through the circus for a long while, checking the crest tag every now and then for a telltale glow. Nothing came up.

I sighed and massaged my temple. This was the best place to look, but I really couldn't have expected results in just an hour's trodging. I really had to get out there and look beyond the grounds... but how?

My attention turned to the largest tent on the grounds, and the trailers that rested behind it. An inkling of an idea came to mind. I marched towards the largest one, and read the title on the door. Ringmaster's chamber. If my guess was right, he'd be the one running the show. I knocked.

"Just a minute!" a snappish voice inside responded. The vehicle rocked a few times with his stumbling, before he finally came to the door and flung it open.

"What is it?" the man demanded, before his face lit up in surprise. He was tall, thin, with a narrow pointy face, greased black hair, and a handlebar mustache that I've noticed is the trait of all Ringmasters, in the Digiworld and beyond.

"You're not on the staff." he said, perplexed. "Just who are you?"

I gave a bow, sweeping my cape back. "Just a humble magician, looking for some work. Would you happen to have any openings in your carnival?"

The Ringmaster squinted at me, a hand going to his mustache. "I might... I'd have to look. What is your name, sir?"

I paused, caught off guard. A second later, I responded "They call me the Great Mon Wizar."

Yes, I know, not the most imaginative name in the world, but it was the best I could do on such short notice.

The man grimaced, but closed his eyes and sighed, turning around. "Well, you might as well come in, so we can better discuss your-"

He opened his eyes and yelped, for I was allready inside the trailer, looking at the long snake skin shed he had lining his windows. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's an Anaconda shed, right?"

"Um... er, yes, you're quite correct!" the man said, recovering from his shock. He then cleared his throat, indicading he was going to get to buisness. "Now then... what all are you capable of doing, magician?"

I studied the suntips of my staff as I told him. "Mass hypnosis, thunderstorm conjourning, some minor alchamey, a few bird-tricks... oh, and I've been told I do great balloon spells as well."

He gave me a critical eye, as if half the things I had said weren't even possible. "Yes... right." he told me. "Then maybe you can show me a few of these tricks?"

I nodded, thinking about what I should do. Turn the skin shed into a snake?... nahh, that would probably unsettle him. How about turning the trailer into an elephant?... on second thought, that wouldn't be good for either of us. Then I thought of just the one.

Twirling my staff, I put the blunt end of it to my lips, and began to blow. The sun-sculpted end began to swell like a balloon. I kept it up untill it was bigger than my head, before I stopped puffing and held it by the end, the staff shrinking into a piece of string. The ringmaster nodded, he was impressed.

I then gave the string a tug, and the airbag popped, revealing a great sparkling light that hung in the air for a few seconds, before congealing itself to resemble a bird. Finally, the light died, and revealed a red Macaw parrot. I held out my arm, and the avian landed on it, preening his feathers.

Again, the man nodded, a smile lining his face. Judging from this reeaction, I could tell that I was not the most impressive that he had seen, but I was among the realms of the accepted.

"Very good, very good." he complimented, walking over and petting the bird softly. "I must admit, should we be in a pinch, you would fill in nicely. Let me see to my staff list for openings."

While he busied himself in searching for the document, I pulled out another staff from beneath my cape, and sat it on the ground. It sprouted legs, and grew a few feet, the top end bending over and forming a cage. I opened it's door and ushered my parrot friend into it, before the manager came back to me with his paper.

"Er, I'm sorry Mr. Wizar, but we have no openings for any magicians in our acts as of this moment. I'm afraid you will have to look elsewhere."

I tipped my hat up, my staff appearing once again in my hand. "Surely, there must be something I can do of assistance? I don't ask for very much, simply for a chance to display my skills..."

The man hummed, a finger twirling his mustache. By now, I had noticed the nametag on his jacket's breast, reading 'Godfried'.

"So, you are saying..." he spoke to me. "That you are willing to work for peanuts?"

Hardly anybody knows... indeed, only Gatomon knows of this... I have a secret craving for peanuts.

I bowed my head. "Indeed I am, Sir Godfried."

The ringmaster blinked again, before a wide smile broke his face in half. Apparantly, he had equal amounts of interest in both show and buisness.

"Then do I have the perfect job for you."

-------

And that's how I came to lead children with balloons across streets.

The task was simple. Go around town, handing out balloons and brochures for the circus to anybody and everybody who was interested in attending. Plus the fact that I was a wizard, introducing myself as 'Mon Wizar', helped when I did my 'Sales pitch'. The children absolutely loved what I could do with a simple piece of air-filled rubber.

There was also the chance that one of the children I attracted would be the eighth child, so I always kept the crest tag close at hand, searching for any telltale glow. This, I thought to myself, was the perfect disguise. I couldn't have asked for a better deception.

As I made my rounds and performed tricks, the sun continued it's descent. It came to mind that the final acts would be happening soon, and as I had never seen a human circus's closing act, I really didn't want to miss it.

I began working my way back to the circus, when the strangest thing happened. I was, but two blocks away, when I noticed a pair of young girls with a baby carrige crossing the street. It occoured to me to try and give them circus brochures, and I began making my way towards them... when they turned and faced the carrige towards me.

Stuffed in the cart was a Palmon and a Biyomon. A normal human would have thought them to be dolls. I, on the otherhand, knew otherwise. These two children... must be Digidestined!

Quickly, I dove out of sight into an allyway. Officially, I was still under Myotismon's employ. The fact that I had no wish to serve him was not known by these four girls, and I'm certian the digimon would have identified me sooner than the humans would have. Best to let them pass.

As they walked by my hiding spot, the Biyomon turned her head towards the piles of garbage I had secured myself behind.

"What is it Biyomon?" one of the girls, with the helmet, asked.

The bird stared at the sacks for a few more seconds, before turning back and saying "Nothing. I thought I saw something moving in there."

They all shrugged and continued on. A moment later, I emerged from my spot, and continued back towards the carnival.

-------

I eventually got back onto the grounds at sunset. By the time the day was done, I must have increased the local bird population by two thirds. The children had all deemed that trick their favorite.

As I trundled towards the tent, I could hear a great rabble inside. The audience was sounding restless. Worried, I began for Mr. Godfried's trailer.

He intercepted me halfway there. Unlike earlier in the day, he was now obviously beside himself in panic, his hair a tangled mess and his mustache going in six different directions.

"Mon Wizar!!" he cried, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me. "You TRUELY are a blessing in disguise!!"

"Beg pardon?" I asked, trying to keep a grip on the remaining balloons I had with me.

"Our finishing act, Mr. Gorgan Zola, ate a bad batch of tunafish tacos and has come down with a terrible stomach flu! We're now without a closing number! Not only that, but the Audience has chosen you over him!!"

Now I was really confused. "The Audience chose me?" I asked.

"Well listen to the chanting, will you!? They're crying your name!!"

I turned back to the big top. Listening closely, I could tell that they were, indeed, going 'Mon-Wi-Zar! Mon-Wi-Zar!"

"Wow." I could only mutter. "The balloon-bird trick must have gone over better than I thought."

"You've got to take the stage." the ringmaster told me, shaking my body to empathsize each word he spoke. "You've got to go in and take Mr. Zola's place! The show must go on!!"

I shook him off, and took a moment to collect my wits and brush my cloak off, before telling him "I need an elephant, some rope, and a burning hoop."

He blinked, and gaped. "B-b-but how are you going to make an elephant jump through a burning hoop?"

I grinned under my cloak. "I'll find a way. Nothing's impossible, as you, and everybody else in that tent, is going to see!"

-------

Eight minutes later brought a spotlight to rest on Mr Godfried, Ringmaster, in the middle of the tent grounds. All eyes turned to train on him.

Looking at him now, he resembled nothing like he had a few moments ago. His compusture had returned, as had his brilliant smile and booming voice.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!! The Godfried and Sons Circus is proud to annouce our final act for the show! Presenting, for his first grand performance... The Great! Mon! Wizar!!"

All spotlights shifted from him, to me, up on a raised wooden platform. From here, I could see the stands, all those eyes and people, watching me, waiting to see just what I had in store... I had a brief urge to check the crest tag again, but the thrill of the masses quickly drowned it.

I bowed, and then swept my cape back, my hand ducking inside for something. I wasn't completely winging it, but I didn't know all the details of just what I was going to do either. This audience was expecting something new, something different. It would have helped to have known just what spectacles earlier human magicians had performed before.

I withdrew... a 2 foot by 3 feet piece of stiff paper.

The crowd murmured. What's so amazing about a big piece of paper?

I flung it into the air. As it floated down, I struck it's underside with my staff, instantly creating a fold in it. The action tossed it back up in the air. When it came back, I hit it again from a different direction.

They watched me as I spent a few seconds doing this. It took them a while to realize what I was doing... I was doing origami, without even touching it, letting my blows do the folding. They began to cheer as the paper's shape finally revealed itself...

I finished, and let the final form rest on the end of my staff. It was a giant white paper crane. They cheered and applauded me... even though I was not done yet.

Again I tossed the piece of art in the air, this time having it land on the sun-sculpted end. I raised my staff into the air, and channeled my energies into the lifeless parchment... one flash later, and a real live crane took to the air, creaking it's cry as it flew. They went wild.

I bowed again, and turned to a person somewhere out of the spotlights, giving him a nod. He rushed off, and a moment later, brought in two things. An elephant, and a hoop.

He took them to the center of the ring, and rushed off. I looked at both the giant 10-foot tall mammal, and the 6-foot wide hoop, and thought for a second on just how I was going to do this. Finally, an idea came.

I pointed my staff at the hoop and lit it aflame. The audience gasped, and I could hear the elephant mutter in a slight fear.

Then, I began moving the staff in a circle, keeping it trained on the ring. The flaming circle began to turn too. When I began to point the staff higher, the hoop rose off it's stand, into the air. They gasped again.

Whoever was working the lights, must have been a professional, for everything dimmed untill the flying flames were the only source of illumesence. I continued raising the hoop untill it was flying in a circle, right over my head.

I then began to swing my wand in wider arcs. The ring of fire began to grow, much to the amazement of the spectators eyes. I continued this untill it grew to be, what I guessed to be, 18 feet across. I lifted a hand now to the pachyderm, a spotlight coming out to call attention to my movements.

The elephant's eyes widened, as it felt it's feet leave the ground. The spotlight turned to it, letting everybody see just what was happening, and I could hear a few screams of disbelief resound across the stands. Slowly, I lowered the burning halo down and around the elephant, holding him in my psychic grip so he wouldn't flail and harm himself. The light made itself scarce once again.

Here's where the real fun starts. I began twirling my staff like a baton, and the hoop followed it's movement, twirling around the beast in all different directions. I could hear the audience hold it's breath as the speed of rotation increased, the flames blurring together untill it looked more like a ball of fire with an elephant floating inside it.

At the peak of it's rotation, I suddenly threw both hands apart, and the flames went out, pitching everything into darkness. A second or so passed before the lights came back on, and they trained the spotlight back on the elephant... who was with nary a burnmark, proudly holding a blackened hoop back in it's original size, on his trunk.

There was an outburst of amazement from the masses. I simply bowed again, but under my cloak, I was grinning from ear to stitched-on ear.

When the applause finally died down, and the elephant had been taken offstage, I decided it was time for something a little light-hearted. I dug into a pocket, and produced an ordinary deck of 52 playing cards. I got some puzzled looks from the crowd.

I began by shuffling the deck a few times, and then letting them pile from hand to hand. I kept this up for a bit, even doing a few tricks with them, before I did it with my hand behind my back.

When my arms came back, they appeared to be berift of cards. I gave an expression of surprise, and scratched my head, before turning around to see if I had dropped them.

Of course I hadn't. But it allowed the audience to see that the cards had assembled themselves into a man-shaped figure, hiding right behind my back, moving as I do.

They all called me to look this way, and I turned, only to have the deck-man skitter behind my back again. I looked back and forth, before looking at the crowd again, giving them a questioning shrug.

'Behind you! Behind your back!' they cried. I gave them another perplexed look and pointed behind me. 'Yes yes!' they replied.

So I turned again. And again and again, trying to chase the man made of cards that hid behind my back. What they didn't know was that I was actually controlling the man, like a puppet, having it shadow my every move. While not real hard to do, it was really amusing to watch, as the audience howled with laughter at the card's constant evasion of my detection.

I stopped to take my hat off and scratch my head, while the living deck hopped away and pantomimed laughing with everybody else at my inability to catch him... at least, untill I suddenly spun in place, pointing at the puppet in a dramatic manner. Everybody gasped as I then leapt at him, the cardboard being holding his hands up to defend himself...

As I landed on him, he collapsed into a pile of cards. I arose from the jumble, a card in my mouth, and spat it out. It was the Ace of Spades. I then held it out for everybody to see, a triumphant look on my face. The masses cheered again.

It took a moment to gather the cards back up and put away. I walked back towards the center of the stage, and tapped on it's floor with my staff. On cue, a box rose from the wood, about the same hight as a normal adult human, which meant it was a head or so taller than me. A spotlight went to the ground in front of the stage, where Mr. Godfried was standing once again. He spoke to the masses.

"In order to perform his next trick, Mr. Mon Wizar will need a voulnteer from the audience. Who shall it be, Mr. Wizar?"

I raised a hand, and took control of one of the spotlights, much to the surprise of it's operator. I then pointed a finger out along the audience, the light running over hundreds of people, all clamoring for me to choose them...

I rested the light on a spiky-haired young lad, wearing goggles, sitting next to an ever wilder-haired girl... his sister, perhaps? Ahh well. I felt the boy would do. I then motioned to the boy to come down.

He gaped, and froze for a second, before his sister whispered in his ear. He made a face, retorted at her, and then made his way down to the ring.

The ringmaster was grinning as the boy came up. "Congratulations! Do you think you're up to it?"

The child puffed out his chest. "Sure I am! I can take anything he has!"

Godfried laughed. "What's your name, young man?"

"Davis Motomiya!"

"Allright then Davis, here's what we want you to do."

He led the lad up to the stage, where I had the box open and waiting. Godfried spoke for me.

"We need you to step inside this box here, and be still. Mon Wizar will then cast a powerful transformation spell. Once you step back out, everyone will see just how different you are!"

Davis's eyes lit up in excitement, but he glanced at me, and looked worridly back at the master. "Are you sure he won't... stick swords into me or something like that?"

I chuckled- the only sound I had made in the act so far. Mr. Godfried also laughed. "Don't worry lad. Pointy objects have never been his thing." I nodded my agreement.

With a reassured confedince, he walked inside of the box, and I closed the door. The ringmaster turned back to the crowd and bellowed. "The Great Mon Wizar will now cast a Powerful transformation spell! When young Davis walks out of that box, he will be completely different from ANYBODY else here!!"

The crowd gasped, and I could hear some members hold their breath. I held my staff up in in one hand, a golden light beginning to gather in it's end. After a couple of seconds, I touched the other end to the box, and the entire tent lit up with a blinding light.

Time passed, and the light dissapeared. The audience blinked, rubbed their eyes, and looked at each other... and began screaming.

They were the ones who had changed. Each spectator was now a anthropomorphic animal, with fur, wings, scales, feathers, and tails. There was almost a flooding panic out, if not for Mr. Godfried... now a lion... roaring "Everybody calm down!!"

He looked himself over, and then strode over to me, bending down and whispering into my ear "There had better be a good explination for this."

"It's an illusion." I told him. "A mass hypnosis. I can change you all back, but first-"

The box burst open, revealing a very sweaty Davis... who was still human.

"What's going on out here!" he exclaimed. "I was hearing some screaming and then..." he stopped as he saw the spectacle before him. He said nothing for a few seconds, untill he asked "June, is that you as a snake up there?"

The ringmaster knew an oppurtunity when he saw one. "Well Davis," he said. "We TOLD you you'd be completely different from anybody here!"

It took a bit before it sunk into the rest of the audience, just what he was talking about. There was a snort, a guffaw, and various other noises of mirth before it escalated into full-blown laughter. The poor lad stood there, fuming, the meaning of the jibe not lost on him.

Godfried recovered first, trying to compose himself. "Hoho, It'll be allright people, haha, all that has to be done is from, heh, young Davis here to reenter the box, and then Mon Wizar can reverse the spell!"

I nodded vigiorusly. The crowd began chanting Davis's name, which brought his spirits back up. He turned right around and marched back into that box, upon which I closed the door, and set my wand upon, beginning the spell over again. Another flash emerged, rendering everybody blind once more.

When the glow faded, there was a mass sigh of releif, and much cheering and rejoicing, as everybody was now back to normal. the manager reach over to me and shook my hand. I was just about to tip my hat, when the door to the box burst open again.

"Did it work? Huh, did it?" asked a blue-skinned lizard in the lad's voice.

Both Godfried and I struggled to keep straight faces. The audience had no such qualms though, as they shreiked and laughed at the boy. He gave a puzzled look, then turned his head to see his tail coming out of his pants.

"Awww geez." he whined. "Do I hafta go in there again?"

I shook my head, chuckling all the while, and touched my staff to his head. There was a puff, and smoke enveloped his form. When it cleared away, he was back to his human self.

Grinning all the way, he dashed back into the stands, as the spectators all cheered on masse again. I tapped the box once more, and it retracted back into the platform. The ringmaster cleared the area, and I was left all alone in the spotlight once more.

Now is the time, I thought. The finishing act. Now I'll show them how a Digimon circus does it's final number.

I motioned for all the lights to go out, save for mine. Once that was done, I reached behind me... and pulled out a balloon. A simple, small, red balloon.

"Why do we come here?" I spoke to them, the first time they had heard my voice. "Why do we visit these places? To escape the regularity of life? The monotonus?"

I took a deep breath, and blew up the balloon some. After a few seconds of this, I stopped and addressed the watchers again.

"Isn't that always the way? How somebody wishes they could live the life of another? The way we look at them and they look at us, wishing things were different?"

There were murmurs of agreement and understanding. I blew into the balloon again, bringing it to a size twice as big as my head.

"If only if there was a world where nothing was like it is here... where everybody could change, could be somebody else if they wanted to."

More nods and mumbling. I inflated the plastic sphere once more. Eyes began to widen at it's size.

"A place so different, the founding of society is changed... a place where the dead are reborn, and the young learn quickly, just what it takes to survive..."

I had them now, many of them were leaning forward, wondering where I was going with all this. I took an even deeper breath, and blew into the balloon, it's size now large enough to house myself in. There were gasps all around.

I took my mouth away from it, and looked at the crowd. "Do you wish to see this world?"

They all nodded. Besides that, they were silent.

I nodded, and let go of the balloon. Instead of it just deflating, like some people thought it would, it rose slowly into the air. It continued it's ascent for a few seconds, untill it almost touched the tent's top.

I snapped my fingers. It popped.

From it's remains, spewed forth a stormcloud. It rapidly covered the tent's ceiling, and crackled with angry thunder. The spectators shrieked and covered themselves, fearing that it might would rain on them. My clouds held no water though. Only light.

I waved my staff at them, and the clouds responded, churning and swirling. Lightning illuminated various patches in different vibrant colors. I waved my staff and hands this way and that, directing the storm as if I were conducting an orchestra.

After watching the storm for a few seconds, the audience finally got it. I was twisting the fog into different shapes, and then lighting them, creating a natural, but magical, version of a light show.

They watched in wonder as a tale was spun before their eyes, of a little grey whisp of a creature who left it's village before it's time. Of the times it had evading other, larger ferocious creatures. Of when it grew into a flaming fireball, and then from that, into a living candle. Of a time when it had almost lost a fight, but then grew into a strange caped man and won the battle. Of when it was lost and weak in the desert, and was nursed back to health by a cat...

It was my life. They knew not of this, but I was laying my entire life out for all to see. Looking at it myself, I cursed the moments where I made brash mistakes, but cherished the events that came of them.

I whipped the storm into a frenzy, my emotions getting the best of me. I floated into the air, my staff pointed heavenward, ready to apply the finishing touch.

"MAGICAL STRIKE!!"

A thunderbolt leapt from my wand into the clouds, and lightning struck the ground right in front of the stands, causing all to scream. With a bit of effort, I was able the shape the bolts in front of them, into shapes not seen before. While they stared with shock and amazement, they knew not that the shapes that were appearing before them, were in fact, the Crests of the Digidestined. I displayed all of them, even right down to the eighth one... the Crest of Light.

My energy going, I ceased the electrical display, and landed back onto the floor. I then held out my free hand, and commanded the tempest to return. The stands rocked with shellshocked spectators as wind whipped every which way, the storm coming down in a funnel into the palm of my hand, condensing rapidly.

At last, the last of the vapor came to me, and as if it were rewinding, the balloon returned, fully intact. I held it in front of me, and let some of the air out of it, letting it deflate untill it was cantaloupe-sized... and then it popped once more.

Eight white-winged doves, flew from it's remains, and into the night.

I relaxed, got on one knee, took my hat off, and bowed.

The crowd erupted into ten different things at once. Crying, cheering, laughing, calling, and many others. Then they began to chant once more. It was all so loud and blurred together, that it sounded like they were chanting my Real name, instead of the one I had made up so sloppily.

'MonWizarMonWizarMonWizarMonWizarMon-!!!"

-------

Minutes later found me in Mr. Godfried's trailer again, the both of us sipping cocoa like there was no tomorrow.

"That was..." he fumbled. He was obviously at a loss for words. "... amazing. That's all I can say."

I chuckled to myself "You're amazed? I was surprised that my final act worked as well as it did."

We just sat there, both of us too numb to say much of anything. I'm not certian what exactly happened, but pretty soon, the both of us deteriorated into laughing fits. This lasted for maybe half an hour or so, untill we had cackled away our exaughstion.

He leaned back in his chair, twirling his mustache again. "Y'know... I've been reconsidering your offer you made earlier today."

My ears perked up. "Oh? And to what conclusions have you made?"

He sighed, before saying. "I think you'd make an excellent addition to the crew. You've got some kind of talent that's just... different from the others... I'd love to have you tag along with us."

I blinked. Live the rest of my life with the circus? And for peanuts? It sounded like the best deal in the world... better than working for Myotismon, that was for certian. Could I really...?

My chest began to feel warm. Puzzled, and wondering if it was the cocoa, I dug into my tunic. A few seconds later, I pulled out... the Crest tag.

It was glowing.

Aldrinaline introducing itself to my bloodstream, I hopped out of my chair, and began turning in circles. Finally, I got a fix in the right direction, but the signal was allready growing weak... panicking, I rushed out of the trailer, a very befuddled Godfried on my heels. "Mr. Wizar? Wait!"

I scamperd into the middle of the circus lot, the light still fading from the tag, but at least pointing in the right direction. The chosen child must have been in a car, driving right past here. What awkward luck.

When the man caught up with me, I pointed in the general area the light was, and asked him "What's over there in that direction?"

He frowned, looking at my line of pointing, and rubbed his chin. "I think the loading bay docks are over there. Why do you ask? And why were you running before?"

I sighed, and dropped my head, before turning and looking up at him. "I have to admit something... when I was asking for work, it was only for as long as somebody was... lost. You see, I'm looking for a child... she's very important to me."

Godfried's eyebrows flew up. "A child? Why for?"

I looked back and forth, for any other my other employer's croonies, before continuing. "A person I know... holds something against this child. I've got to find her first before he does, or else he'll kill her!"

He gasped. Of course, at the time, I had no idea if the eigth child was a girl or not, so I just kept the tone up.

I held up the tag. "This... tag, tells me how close the child is. The reason I wanted to find a job here was... well, with all the children around..."

The ringman looked down, and then nodded. "I see. There was a possibility that she'd be here..."

I nodded as well. "Exactly. But now I have a fix on her... I'm afraid my time here is at an end."

Godfried sighed, and ran a hand over his hair. "... if that's the way things stand... I guess you should go ahead and find her, before your maniac does... but, should you ever get that taken care of... would you consider coming back here?"

I blinked, and looked around. I hadn't noticed, but it was dark out, the moon up and bright, the carnival lot, save for us two, was bare and lifeless. Still, the air lingered... I could almost still hear the echos of the crowd...

I looked back at him, and smiled. "... I think I would like that..."

He smiled back, before grabbing my hand and shaking it furiously. I had to hang onto my hat, or else I would loose it. I looked back into his eyes and told him "Had things been different... I think we could have been Partners..."

An odd look came over his face. He probably wasn't thinking of the same kind of partners I was. He smiled again though.

"It's been a pleasure working with you, Mon Wizar."

I shook my head, and turned away. "I'm sorry... that's another truth I need to clear up. My real name... is Wizardmon."

And with that, I launched into the air, in the direction of the shipping port I hoped was there. I would never meet Sir Godfried again, but I am forever in his debt, for even though I was working for him, he let me have the Grandest Time on Earth.

**-FIN-**


End file.
